


A Man of Principles and Contradictions

by Sundrangea



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23190907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sundrangea/pseuds/Sundrangea
Summary: Drabbles about Officer Tim Bradford throughout the series. Leaning towards Tim/Lucy but still pre-relationship.Chapter 1: Post 2x14- Jackson and Tim have a "conversation"
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	A Man of Principles and Contradictions

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any prompts, please comment or send them my way. Thank you!!!

Roll call had been hard this morning. The night before after getting a stern talking to from Grey, Tim had driven Lucy home. She asked him to take the dog, and he could not say no to her. Or to the dog. It was cute and he was kind of in love with Cujo already (not that he would ever admit that to Chen). But having a puppy and conducting a black op in the same night would make any man tired. He had crawled out of bed the next morning, picked coffee up for Angela and Harper as a thanks for having his back. He pointedly did not get coffee for the rookies, they deserved to feel tired. They could have chosen to sit out, but Lucy had refused. And once she pulled the survivor card, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was protect her the best he could, and teach her to survive any other situation. He still had so much to show her. By the time she was done, he would teach her everything he knew, every trick, every tool. She was going to be okay, even if she was far too impulsive at times.

He was so lost in his thoughts in the locker room, he failed to sense the anger coming from across the room. But he picked up on in when West walked up to him, a storm brewing in his eyes.

“We need to talk.” The rookie demanded.

No, he did not get to do that. The one rookie who was allowed even a little bit of snark was Chen. She had earned it. This kid had not.

“About?” Tim felt his asshole persona washing over him. He liked Jackson, he did, but after the night that he had just had, was not willing to play any games.

“Lucy came home late last night.”

Tim felt himself shrugging. When Jackson kept looking at him, he replied, “Good for her.” Keep it simple and do not offer any additional information.

“She seemed a little tired and then Nolan was yawning at roll call. And you brought both Harper and Angela coffee this morning.”

He just arched his eyebrow at Jackson. There was a reason they did not tell him about what they were doing. Tim was not going to be the one to crack.

Jackson looked around, “What did you all do last night?”

“Not that it is any of your concern, boot,” he spat out, “But I acquired a dog and went to sleep. Alone.”

“And the others?”

“You’d have to ask them.” He was not going to put them in a tight spot.

“I’m sure they will all have airtight alibis. Doesn’t mean it’s the truth,” Jackson countered.

Man, this kid was not going to quit. He honestly wished he was Lopez right then. She would know exactly how to handle Jackson. His particular style did not work that well with him. But the circle had the remain close. No one outside of the five of them could ever know what happened. That included Jackson. His father was the head of IA, and what they did last night-well it would be considered illegal. Or at least highly unethical. Harper had been right. She and he could weather the storm, Chen and Nolan would not be able to. For their sake, he would not open the door.

“You better get your gear boot. Long day ahead.” He sidestepped the conversation and began to walk away.

“Keep walking and I’ll talk to my father,” Jackson called after him.

This just pissed Tim off. He turned and got into West’s face, “Really? Run to Daddy? Let’s see what that does to your career, labeled as a snitch or as a rat. Your partner requires absolute trust, do you think any of us would ever trust you if you did that? You’d be putting your life on the line for a hunch that you have no evidence for.”

“Then tell me.” Jackson implored.

“There is nothing to tell.”

"With respect sir, that's bullshit." He took another step forward. "Was Lucy okay?"

"She was fine boot. I'd never put her in harm's way."

"Intentionally."

Tim paused at that. "I will do everything in my power to keep her safe."

"Did you keep her safe last night?" Tim remembered the gun pointed at her, how she tried to override him, but how one look between them silenced her. She was a good cop, but she still viewed him with the respect of a superior. She followed his lead, and she was safe. That was all he could do. But it still might not be enough. So, all he could do was be there as much as he could be.

"As best that I could."

Jackson stared at him, "That I actually believe. Fine, I'll drop this. One day, I hope you will trust me with whatever it was you were doing."

"We do trust you, West. But we also need to protect you. You have a high position here, and sometimes you need plausible deniability."

At that moment, Tim could see that he understood but before he could say anything the door of the Locker room knocked. "Jackson," Angela yelled, "get out here."

"You heard the boss," he found himself saying. "Go."

Jackson left and Tim had a moment to ponder. This would not be the first time that he and Jackson would disagree, nor did Tim see it as the last time that he would keep him in the dark. Sometimes cops needed to keep quiet, and Jackson had proven that he internalized everything. He'd be a good cop, maybe even a great one, but he lived in a world of extremes of things being right or wrong. Tim did not have that luxury. But he did not have time to dwell on that, he had a rookie to train.


End file.
